The holidays are overwhelming for me. I feel like I’m always rushing to get work done, the house is a mess, I’m barely eating well, and suddenly Christmas is here. And I’ve been trying to be good about embracing the mantra, “Less is more.” If you were to meet me a few years ago, you would have found me putting in countless hours making various festive cookies to bring to coworkers, friends, families, and neighborhoods. But in the spirit of more life-work balance, I’m opting to bake only one cookie this year, and it’s my favorite, easy Christmas cookie to make: The Holiday Spritz Cookie. 

The humble spritz cookie has a soft dough typically loaded into a spritz dispenser that yields decoratively shaped cookies. And as much as I love stocking and Christmas tree-shaped cookies, I frankly don’t like keeping a lot of things in my home because I live in a tiny New York City apartment, so for my recipe, I just roll the dough into tiny balls and stamp them with a decorative glass to flatten them.

These cookies take about 1 hour to make and they are so fun to decorate and eat. You’ll pop them into your mouth every time you walk by your cookie jar – and that’s a good thing. 

Where does the holiday spritz cookie come from?

The exact origin of spritz cookies is a little bit debated, but there are two main contenders: Scandinavia and Germany. There is some evidence suggesting that spritz cookies may have originated in Scandinavia. For example, there are similar cookies found in traditional Scandinavian baking, such as the Swedish "Spritz" and the Danish "Sprødbrød.” These cookies are typically made with a butter-based dough and are often decorated with icing or sprinkles. But Germany is also credited with the invention of the cookie press, which is essential for making spritz cookies. The German word "Spritzen" means "to squirt," which is how the dough is forced through the cookie press to create distinctive shapes. German spritz cookies are called "Spritzgebäck" and are traditionally made with butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. Either way, I love how buttery and cute they are, and I’m sure you’ll love eating them too. 

Recipe: Holiday spritz cookie

Yields: 24 cookies

Cooking time: Prep time: 10 minutes | Chilling the dough: 30 minutes | Baking time: 8 to 10 minutes | Resting the cookies: 10 minutes | Total time: 1 hour 

Ingredients 

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract (optional)
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

Instructions 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Cream room-temperature butter with sugar in a large bowl with a mixer. 

Once the batter is fluffy, add in your salt, vanilla, and egg. Then mix until combined. 
Sift flour into your wet ingredients and mix on medium speed. The dough will be crumbly. 

Once everything is incorporated, I suggest using your hands to gently squish the dough together slightly. Don’t overwork the dough because you don’t want the butter to get warm in your hands. 

Using your hands, portion out about 1 tablespoon of dough, or you can make it slightly smaller, and roll it in your palms until you form a ball. 

Put the ball on a parchment-lined baking tray and stamp it with a decorative bottom glass. I use a shot glass. This will give your cookies an imprint and will help flatten them out slightly.

After you have used up all the dough and formed your cookies, put them into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. 

After chilled, put your cookies in the oven. Bake them for 8 to 10 minutes in your oven. You know they are done when they are pale but have a slightly golden hue on the bottom of the cookie. 

Let the cookies rest for at least 10 minutes. If you want to decorate them, let them cool completely on a cooling rack. 

You can decorate with a simple icing sugar or sprinkles. I like to dunk my cookies into melted chocolate and coat them in festive sprinkles. 

Store these in an air-tight container and they should last a week. If you put them in the refrigerator, they can last up to two weeks. Enjoy! 

Did you make this recipe? Tell me how you liked it by commenting below. Thanks!